Humans have engaged in artistic and aesthetic activities since the appearance of our species. The expression of meaning using color, line, sound, rhythm, or movement constitutes a fundamental aspect ...
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Humans have engaged in artistic and aesthetic activities since the appearance of our species. The expression of meaning using color, line, sound, rhythm, or movement constitutes a fundamental aspect of our species’ biological and cultural heritage. All known human societies have developed aesthetic systems that use diverse forms of visual representation, body art, music, literature, or performance to convey culturally important meaning. Art and aesthetics are, therefore, inherent constituents of the human mind, and contribute to our species’ identity, distinguishing it from its living and extinct relatives. Science faces the challenge of explaining the foundations of this trait and the way cultural processes nurture it into expression. How does the human brain bring about these sorts of behaviours? What neural processes underlie aesthetic appreciation? How does training modulate these processes? How are they impaired by brain lesions and neurodegenerative diseases? How did such neural underpinnings evolve? Are humans the only species capable of aesthetic appreciation, or are other species endowed with the rudiments of this capacity? Scientific aesthetics is today a thriving and respected research field. It has made substantial contributions to basic understanding of some of the unique features of the human mind, and to practical issues related to consumers’ decisions, judgments about others, and mate choice.Less

Art, Aesthetics, and the Brain

Published in print: 2015-06-01

Humans have engaged in artistic and aesthetic activities since the appearance of our species. The expression of meaning using color, line, sound, rhythm, or movement constitutes a fundamental aspect of our species’ biological and cultural heritage. All known human societies have developed aesthetic systems that use diverse forms of visual representation, body art, music, literature, or performance to convey culturally important meaning. Art and aesthetics are, therefore, inherent constituents of the human mind, and contribute to our species’ identity, distinguishing it from its living and extinct relatives. Science faces the challenge of explaining the foundations of this trait and the way cultural processes nurture it into expression. How does the human brain bring about these sorts of behaviours? What neural processes underlie aesthetic appreciation? How does training modulate these processes? How are they impaired by brain lesions and neurodegenerative diseases? How did such neural underpinnings evolve? Are humans the only species capable of aesthetic appreciation, or are other species endowed with the rudiments of this capacity? Scientific aesthetics is today a thriving and respected research field. It has made substantial contributions to basic understanding of some of the unique features of the human mind, and to practical issues related to consumers’ decisions, judgments about others, and mate choice.

What are the origins of greatness? Few other questions have caused such intense debate, controversy, and diversity of opinions. In recent years, a large body of research has accumulated that suggests ...
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What are the origins of greatness? Few other questions have caused such intense debate, controversy, and diversity of opinions. In recent years, a large body of research has accumulated that suggests that the origins of greatness are extraordinarily complex. Instead of talent or practice, it’s talent and practice. Instead of nature or nature, it’s nature via nurture. Instead of practice, it’s deliberate practice. Instead of the causes of greatness in general, it’s the determinants of greatness specific to a field. This book brings together a variety of perspectives and the most cutting-edge research on genes, talent, intelligence, expertise, deliberate practice, creativity, prodigies, savants, passion, and persistence. A variety of different domains are represented, including science, mathematics, expert memory, acting, visual arts, music, and sports, demonstrating that the truth about greatness is far more nuanced, complex, and fascinating than any one viewpoint or paradigm can possibly reveal. Indeed, it suggests that the time has come to go beyond talent or practice. Greatness is much, much more.Less

The Complexity of Greatness : Beyond Talent or Practice

Published in print: 2013-05-22

What are the origins of greatness? Few other questions have caused such intense debate, controversy, and diversity of opinions. In recent years, a large body of research has accumulated that suggests that the origins of greatness are extraordinarily complex. Instead of talent or practice, it’s talent and practice. Instead of nature or nature, it’s nature via nurture. Instead of practice, it’s deliberate practice. Instead of the causes of greatness in general, it’s the determinants of greatness specific to a field. This book brings together a variety of perspectives and the most cutting-edge research on genes, talent, intelligence, expertise, deliberate practice, creativity, prodigies, savants, passion, and persistence. A variety of different domains are represented, including science, mathematics, expert memory, acting, visual arts, music, and sports, demonstrating that the truth about greatness is far more nuanced, complex, and fascinating than any one viewpoint or paradigm can possibly reveal. Indeed, it suggests that the time has come to go beyond talent or practice. Greatness is much, much more.

Body language is a powerful means of communication. This book deals with how bodies play a role in the expression and perception of emotions. There are many similarities between faces and bodies, but ...
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Body language is a powerful means of communication. This book deals with how bodies play a role in the expression and perception of emotions. There are many similarities between faces and bodies, but to understand how bodies function in communication the differences may be more important than the similarities. The book discusses the neural basis and the temporal processing signatures of emotional body language and our current understanding of the neuropsychology of emotional face and body disorders. What is the influence of the natural and social context, of movement and prosody, on the perception of body expressions? How do facial and bodily expression interact? Body language is perceived even with limited attention and reduced visual awareness, as studies with patients show. What is the nature of emotional experience, and how does it relate to awareness? Are there also important gender and cultural differences in emotional body language as found for facial expressions? Are some cultures less expressive in their body language? From physical bodies the book proceeds to discuss virtual bodies, avatars, and robots. How do we feel about nonhuman bodies like avatars or robots? What role does emotional body language play in social interaction? The research on emotional body language show that emotions are tools for adaptive action, and we should consider social abilities as abilities to anticipate, to predict interactions with real, imagined, and virtual others.Less

Emotions and the Body

Beatrice de Gelder

Published in print: 2016-01-01

Body language is a powerful means of communication. This book deals with how bodies play a role in the expression and perception of emotions. There are many similarities between faces and bodies, but to understand how bodies function in communication the differences may be more important than the similarities. The book discusses the neural basis and the temporal processing signatures of emotional body language and our current understanding of the neuropsychology of emotional face and body disorders. What is the influence of the natural and social context, of movement and prosody, on the perception of body expressions? How do facial and bodily expression interact? Body language is perceived even with limited attention and reduced visual awareness, as studies with patients show. What is the nature of emotional experience, and how does it relate to awareness? Are there also important gender and cultural differences in emotional body language as found for facial expressions? Are some cultures less expressive in their body language? From physical bodies the book proceeds to discuss virtual bodies, avatars, and robots. How do we feel about nonhuman bodies like avatars or robots? What role does emotional body language play in social interaction? The research on emotional body language show that emotions are tools for adaptive action, and we should consider social abilities as abilities to anticipate, to predict interactions with real, imagined, and virtual others.

This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might ...
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This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might operate. It draws from philosophy and psychology, the two fields that have grappled most fundamentally with these issues. In this wide-ranging volume, the contributors explore issues such as how free will is connected to rational choice, planning, and self-control; roles for consciousness in decision making; the nature and power of conscious deciding; connections among free will, consciousness, and quantum mechanics; why free will and consciousness might have evolved; how consciousness develops in individuals; the experience of free will; effects on behavior of the belief that free will is an illusion; and connections between free will and moral responsibility in lay thinking. Collectively, these state-of-the-art chapters by accomplished psychologists and philosophers provide a glimpse into the future of research on free will and consciousness.Less

Free Will and Consciousness : How Might They Work?

Published in print: 2010-06-10

This volume is aimed at readers who wish to move beyond debates about the existence of free will and the efficacy of consciousness and closer to appreciating how free will and consciousness might operate. It draws from philosophy and psychology, the two fields that have grappled most fundamentally with these issues. In this wide-ranging volume, the contributors explore issues such as how free will is connected to rational choice, planning, and self-control; roles for consciousness in decision making; the nature and power of conscious deciding; connections among free will, consciousness, and quantum mechanics; why free will and consciousness might have evolved; how consciousness develops in individuals; the experience of free will; effects on behavior of the belief that free will is an illusion; and connections between free will and moral responsibility in lay thinking. Collectively, these state-of-the-art chapters by accomplished psychologists and philosophers provide a glimpse into the future of research on free will and consciousness.

Creativity often leads to the development of original ideas that are useful or influential, and maintaining creativity is crucial for the continued development of organizations in particular, and ...
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Creativity often leads to the development of original ideas that are useful or influential, and maintaining creativity is crucial for the continued development of organizations in particular, and society in general. Most research and writing has focused on individual creativity, yet in recent years, there has been an increasing acknowledgment of the importance of the social and contextual factors in creativity. Even with the information explosion and the growing necessity for specialization, the development of innovations still requires group interaction at various stages in the creative process. Most organizations increasingly rely on the work of creative teams where each individual is an expert in a particular area. This book summarizes the exciting new research developments on the processes involved in group creativity and innovation, and explores the relationship between group processes, group context and creativity. It draws from a broad range of research perspectives, including those investigating cognition, groups, creativity, information systems and organizational psychology. The first section in this book focuses on how group decision making is affected by factors such as cognitive fixation and flexibility, group diversity, minority dissent, group decision-making, brainstorming and group support systems. Special attention is devoted to the various processes and conditions which can inhibit or facilitate group creativity. The second section explores how various contextual and environmental factors affect the creative processes of groups. The chapters explore issues of group autonomy, group socialization, mentoring, team innovation, knowledge transfer and creativity, at the level of cultures, and societies.Less

Group Creativity : Innovation through Collaboration

Published in print: 2003-09-25

Creativity often leads to the development of original ideas that are useful or influential, and maintaining creativity is crucial for the continued development of organizations in particular, and society in general. Most research and writing has focused on individual creativity, yet in recent years, there has been an increasing acknowledgment of the importance of the social and contextual factors in creativity. Even with the information explosion and the growing necessity for specialization, the development of innovations still requires group interaction at various stages in the creative process. Most organizations increasingly rely on the work of creative teams where each individual is an expert in a particular area. This book summarizes the exciting new research developments on the processes involved in group creativity and innovation, and explores the relationship between group processes, group context and creativity. It draws from a broad range of research perspectives, including those investigating cognition, groups, creativity, information systems and organizational psychology. The first section in this book focuses on how group decision making is affected by factors such as cognitive fixation and flexibility, group diversity, minority dissent, group decision-making, brainstorming and group support systems. Special attention is devoted to the various processes and conditions which can inhibit or facilitate group creativity. The second section explores how various contextual and environmental factors affect the creative processes of groups. The chapters explore issues of group autonomy, group socialization, mentoring, team innovation, knowledge transfer and creativity, at the level of cultures, and societies.

This book focuses on the variability of metacognitive skills across cultures. Metacognition refers to the processes that enable agents to contextually control their first-order cognitive activity ...
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This book focuses on the variability of metacognitive skills across cultures. Metacognition refers to the processes that enable agents to contextually control their first-order cognitive activity (e.g. perceiving, remembering, learning, or problem-solving) by monitoring them, i.e. assessing their likely success. It is involved in our daily observations, such as “I don’t remember where my keys are,” or “I understand your point.” These assessments may rely either on specialized feelings (e.g. the felt fluency involved in distinguishing familiar from new environments, informative from repetitive messages, difficult from easy cognitive tasks) or on folk theories about one’s own mental abilities. Variable and universal features associated with these dimensions are documented, using anthropological, linguistic, neuroscientific, and psychological evidence. Among the universal cross-cultural aspects of metacognition, children are found to be more sensitive to their own ignorance than to that of others, adults have an intuitive understanding of what counts as knowledge, and speakers are sensitive to the reliability of informational sources (independently of the way the information is linguistically expressed). On the other hand, an agent’s decisions to allocate effort, motivation to learn, and sense of being right or wrong in perceptions and memories (and other cognitive tasks) are shown to depend on specific transmitted goals, norms, and values. Metacognitive variability is seen to be modulated (among other factors) by variation in attention patterns (analytic or holistic), self-concepts (independent or interdependent), agentive properties (autonomous or heteronomous), childrearing style (individual or collective), and modes of learning (observational or pedagogical). New domains of metacognitive variability are studied, such as those generated by metacognition-oriented embodied practices (present in rituals and religious worship) and by culture-specific lay theories about subjective uncertainty and knowledge regarding natural or supernatural entities.Less

Metacognitive Diversity : An Interdisciplinary Approach

Published in print: 2018-03-22

This book focuses on the variability of metacognitive skills across cultures. Metacognition refers to the processes that enable agents to contextually control their first-order cognitive activity (e.g. perceiving, remembering, learning, or problem-solving) by monitoring them, i.e. assessing their likely success. It is involved in our daily observations, such as “I don’t remember where my keys are,” or “I understand your point.” These assessments may rely either on specialized feelings (e.g. the felt fluency involved in distinguishing familiar from new environments, informative from repetitive messages, difficult from easy cognitive tasks) or on folk theories about one’s own mental abilities. Variable and universal features associated with these dimensions are documented, using anthropological, linguistic, neuroscientific, and psychological evidence. Among the universal cross-cultural aspects of metacognition, children are found to be more sensitive to their own ignorance than to that of others, adults have an intuitive understanding of what counts as knowledge, and speakers are sensitive to the reliability of informational sources (independently of the way the information is linguistically expressed). On the other hand, an agent’s decisions to allocate effort, motivation to learn, and sense of being right or wrong in perceptions and memories (and other cognitive tasks) are shown to depend on specific transmitted goals, norms, and values. Metacognitive variability is seen to be modulated (among other factors) by variation in attention patterns (analytic or holistic), self-concepts (independent or interdependent), agentive properties (autonomous or heteronomous), childrearing style (individual or collective), and modes of learning (observational or pedagogical). New domains of metacognitive variability are studied, such as those generated by metacognition-oriented embodied practices (present in rituals and religious worship) and by culture-specific lay theories about subjective uncertainty and knowledge regarding natural or supernatural entities.

Can consciousness and the human mind be understood and explained in sheerly physical terms? Materialism is a philosophical/scientific theory, according to which the mind is completely physical. This ...
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Can consciousness and the human mind be understood and explained in sheerly physical terms? Materialism is a philosophical/scientific theory, according to which the mind is completely physical. This theory has been around for literally thousands of years, but it was always stymied by its inability to explain how exactly mere matter could do the amazing things the mind can do. Beginning in the 1980s, however, a revolution began quietly boiling away in the neurosciences, yielding increasingly detailed theories about how the brain might accomplish consciousness. Nevertheless, a fundamental obstacle remains. Contemporary research techniques seem to still have the scientific observer of the conscious state locked out of the sort of experience the subjects themselves are having. Science can observe, stimulate, and record events in the brain, but can it ever enter the most sacred citadel, the mind? Can it ever observe the most crucial properties of conscious states, the ones we are aware of? If it can't, this creates a problem. If conscious mental states lack a basic feature possessed by all other known physical states, i.e., the capability to be observed or experienced by many people, this give us reason to believe that they are not entirely physical. This book argues that it is indeed possible for one person to directly experience the conscious states of another, by way of what it calls mindmelding. This would involve making just the right connections in two peoples' brains, which it describes in detail.Less

Mindmelding : Consciousness, Neuroscience, and the Mind's Privacy

William Hirstein

Published in print: 2012-01-26

Can consciousness and the human mind be understood and explained in sheerly physical terms? Materialism is a philosophical/scientific theory, according to which the mind is completely physical. This theory has been around for literally thousands of years, but it was always stymied by its inability to explain how exactly mere matter could do the amazing things the mind can do. Beginning in the 1980s, however, a revolution began quietly boiling away in the neurosciences, yielding increasingly detailed theories about how the brain might accomplish consciousness. Nevertheless, a fundamental obstacle remains. Contemporary research techniques seem to still have the scientific observer of the conscious state locked out of the sort of experience the subjects themselves are having. Science can observe, stimulate, and record events in the brain, but can it ever enter the most sacred citadel, the mind? Can it ever observe the most crucial properties of conscious states, the ones we are aware of? If it can't, this creates a problem. If conscious mental states lack a basic feature possessed by all other known physical states, i.e., the capability to be observed or experienced by many people, this give us reason to believe that they are not entirely physical. This book argues that it is indeed possible for one person to directly experience the conscious states of another, by way of what it calls mindmelding. This would involve making just the right connections in two peoples' brains, which it describes in detail.

Every day of life, we are enmeshed in countless storylines: those we spin around the experiences we remember, the people we relate to, and the world we inhabit, plus what others spin around us. And ...
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Every day of life, we are enmeshed in countless storylines: those we spin around the experiences we remember, the people we relate to, and the world we inhabit, plus what others spin around us. And this says nothing of the stories that we read in newspapers and novels, or watch on TV, or exchange with friends; plus the stories of family, community, and culture. Because stories are at work on several levels of our lives, narrative is not something we can think calmly and coolly “about,” for we are immersed in stories at every turn. We are continually involved in “narrative knowing” and “narrative thought,” and forever playing narrative psychologist: imagining stories about our own lives and speculating on those that others entertain about theirs. This book explores the narrative complexity of ordinary life. Written in an ordinary coffee shop, where that complexity is eminently apparent, it weaves anecdotes of encounters its author experiences with speculations on his own life story, probing the narrative complexity of our memories, emotions, and identities, and our experience of everything from romance to rumor and history to religion. This innovative exercise in “autoethnography” probes the intricacies of narrative psychology with the aid of narrative thought.Less

The Narrative Complexity of Ordinary Life : Tales from the Coffee Shop

William L. Randall

Published in print: 2015-10-01

Every day of life, we are enmeshed in countless storylines: those we spin around the experiences we remember, the people we relate to, and the world we inhabit, plus what others spin around us. And this says nothing of the stories that we read in newspapers and novels, or watch on TV, or exchange with friends; plus the stories of family, community, and culture. Because stories are at work on several levels of our lives, narrative is not something we can think calmly and coolly “about,” for we are immersed in stories at every turn. We are continually involved in “narrative knowing” and “narrative thought,” and forever playing narrative psychologist: imagining stories about our own lives and speculating on those that others entertain about theirs. This book explores the narrative complexity of ordinary life. Written in an ordinary coffee shop, where that complexity is eminently apparent, it weaves anecdotes of encounters its author experiences with speculations on his own life story, probing the narrative complexity of our memories, emotions, and identities, and our experience of everything from romance to rumor and history to religion. This innovative exercise in “autoethnography” probes the intricacies of narrative psychology with the aid of narrative thought.

This book explores how stories and imagination come together in our daily lives, influencing our thoughts not only about what we see and do, but also our contemplation of what is possible and its ...
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This book explores how stories and imagination come together in our daily lives, influencing our thoughts not only about what we see and do, but also our contemplation of what is possible and its limitations. Beginning with the premise that stories are central to the way in which individuals and communities negotiate their identities, the book examines different ‘ordinary’ settings in which we construct who we are, and who we are not—central problems of everyday life. Combining scholarly research with personal experience, this book examines the critical role of imagination in how we accomplish this task. What kinds of narratives do we anticipate, and how does this affect how we construct ‘reality’. What happens when we meet the unexpected? Imagining other possible lives directs us to ruminate on what it means to be human and the world we might create.Less

Narrative Imagination and Everyday Life

Molly Andrews

Published in print: 2014-01-31

This book explores how stories and imagination come together in our daily lives, influencing our thoughts not only about what we see and do, but also our contemplation of what is possible and its limitations. Beginning with the premise that stories are central to the way in which individuals and communities negotiate their identities, the book examines different ‘ordinary’ settings in which we construct who we are, and who we are not—central problems of everyday life. Combining scholarly research with personal experience, this book examines the critical role of imagination in how we accomplish this task. What kinds of narratives do we anticipate, and how does this affect how we construct ‘reality’. What happens when we meet the unexpected? Imagining other possible lives directs us to ruminate on what it means to be human and the world we might create.

This book seeks to bring into dialogue perspectives on the idea of the Other from various subdisciplines within psychology along with related disciplines through constructive critical exchange. At ...
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This book seeks to bring into dialogue perspectives on the idea of the Other from various subdisciplines within psychology along with related disciplines through constructive critical exchange. At its heart is the attempt to use the language of the Other as a vehicle for rethinking aspects of psychological processes. This book is both “translational” and a challenge to create new theories and practices that are more ethically attuned to the dynamics realities of psychological functioning. This book poses such questions as, How can the idea of the Other serve as a vehicle for exploring—and reconceptualizing—classic psychological and philosophical issues, ranging from identity and purpose to human frailty and suffering? In what ways can the idea of the Other serve to reorient inquiry toward aspects of the human condition? How do psychology, philosophy, theology, and religious studies speak about the challenges we face in encountering the Other? How might we think about our possible yearning for, and love of, the Other and how does this relate to the therapeutic process? The book is organized into three sections. The first deals with foundational philosophical concerns and serves as an introduction to the project of “thinking Otherwise.” The second section seeks to bring these fundamental philosophical concerns to bear on the therapeutic situation, especially in the realm of relational psychoanalysis. The third section of the book looks toward concrete psychological situations in which the Other figures prominently and where the power of thinking Otherwise is most visibly demonstrated.Less

Psychology and the Other

Published in print: 2015-09-01

This book seeks to bring into dialogue perspectives on the idea of the Other from various subdisciplines within psychology along with related disciplines through constructive critical exchange. At its heart is the attempt to use the language of the Other as a vehicle for rethinking aspects of psychological processes. This book is both “translational” and a challenge to create new theories and practices that are more ethically attuned to the dynamics realities of psychological functioning. This book poses such questions as, How can the idea of the Other serve as a vehicle for exploring—and reconceptualizing—classic psychological and philosophical issues, ranging from identity and purpose to human frailty and suffering? In what ways can the idea of the Other serve to reorient inquiry toward aspects of the human condition? How do psychology, philosophy, theology, and religious studies speak about the challenges we face in encountering the Other? How might we think about our possible yearning for, and love of, the Other and how does this relate to the therapeutic process? The book is organized into three sections. The first deals with foundational philosophical concerns and serves as an introduction to the project of “thinking Otherwise.” The second section seeks to bring these fundamental philosophical concerns to bear on the therapeutic situation, especially in the realm of relational psychoanalysis. The third section of the book looks toward concrete psychological situations in which the Other figures prominently and where the power of thinking Otherwise is most visibly demonstrated.

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